FOOD COMMISSION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVI, Issue 16842, 28 April 1915, Page 12

FOOD COMMISSION.

WHAT ARE ITS METHODS?

UNPRODUCTIVE INQUIRIES

[From Our. Correspondent.]

WELLINGTON, April 27

A modest two-inch advertisement in the Wellington newspapers announces that h sitting; of the Foodstuffs Commission will ho held in "Wellington in thy course of a fen- days. Persons desirous of bringing any matter before the Commissiou 1110 requested, states the adverti.«:nient, to notify the secretary in. writing of such desire and of the subject matter, with such other information as they may think proj)er. Iho ' Lyttelton Times" correspondent made an tinsucoessful effort today to ascertain from the chairman or the Commission, Mr Justice Stringer, what method is being followed m probing to the bottom any allegations of exploitation of the public. Ihe loan m the street ivho pnvs higher prices thai! seem reasonable for foodstuffs and other necessaries can only make conjectures as to the cause. His function is to pay or go without. He may suspect that the baker who is selling bread based on a flour cost of £l7 per ton has really obtained suppi 10s at £ls, and ho may wonder why tomo anticipated shortage of butter a few months hence should send tho price scaring now. Tho Average consumer is utterly unable to prove exploitation, but a Royal Commission, with full power to call for persons and papers, is in a superior position. The correspondent desired to find out if the Commission is pursuing its own indepsident lines of investigation or whether it ie simply waiting for evidence, to turn up. The chairman declined to set) hinij and the secretary, I to whom the object of the inquiry was explained, declared that tho advertisement was clear and explicit enough. Meanwhile, tho Arbitration Court, on which Mr Justice Stringer is engaged, will probably be busy for at le'Jst a week, so that if there is exploitation it can go on without chock.

THE PRICE OF BUTTER

[Per Press Association.] WELLINGTON, April 27, Mr Masse?, in a statement yesterday on the price of butter, said that unless Australia removes the duty on butter at Commonwealth ports, it was his opinion that tho present retail prices in New Zealand would not last long.